Zednik, Kreps help Panthers end slide by edging Capitals

Nov 16, 2007 - 4:51 AM

SUNRISE, Florida (Ticker) -- Richard Zednik decided to put a
halt to a current skid.

Zednik scored the game's first tally and rookie Kamil Kreps
netted the winner as the Florida Panthers posted a 2-1 victory
over the Washington Capitals on Thursday in a battle between
Southeast Division rivals.

Tomas Vokoun made 10 of his 26 saves in the final period for
Florida, which ended a four-game losing streak.

"There's nothing in the world like winning," Vokoun said. "It
was a big game, obviously being on the losing streak. The way
things were going, the way they were, it's great to get the two
points, but it's just one little step forward."

The Panthers, who began the season with three straight losses,
were in danger of dropping five straight for the first time
since a 12-game slide from October 27-November 23, 2005.

Worse for Florida's psyche, some of its setbacks - including the
last two - came late in the third period. "I know sometimes
when you lose games, you're a little uptight," Panthers coach
Jacques Martin said. "Hopefully, this game will be able to
springboard us to be able to finish."

"We don't want to think about stuff like (last-second losses).
What happened is in the past," Vokoun added. "The losing will
make some marks on you. It can get in the back of your head."

Zednik, who returned to the lineup after missing two games with
the flu, got the Panthers off to a good start in the first
session.

Defenseman Ruslan Salei took a shot from the blue line that
teammate Jozef Stumpel stopped with his stick in heavy traffic.
The 35-year-old Stumpel then made a quick pass to Zednik, who
lifted to puck into the net at 7:58 to give Florida a 1-0 lead.

It was the seventh goal of the season for Zednik, a two-time
former Capital.

In the second period, a mistake by Washington helped Florida
double its lead.

Blue-liner Tom Poti's cross-ice pass attempt was picked off by
Kreps in the neutral zone. Kreps, who turns 23 on Monday, raced
in and flipped the puck past Olaf Kolzig, beating the netminder
high to the stick side at 4:13 for a 2-0 bulge.

It was the third career tally for Kreps, who had just one in 14
games for Florida last season.

"Just a turnover and a breakaway," a smiling Kreps said. "I
tried to keep it on the left side, my backhand, and get it high
and it went in. It was my first game-winner, so it feels good,
but the most important thing is that we won the game."

Alex Ovechkin halved the deficit 2 1/2 minutes later.

After receiving a pass from Michael Nylander while being dogged
by a defender in front of the Panthers' net, the superstar
whiffed on his first attempt but whacked his second shot past
netminder Tomas Vokoun to draw Washington within 2-1.

But that was as close as it would get. "The season has kind of
broken up on us the last couple weeks," Ovechkin said. "We had
our chances there at the end, but the bottom line is, we lost
the game."

The goal raised the 2006 Calder Trophy winner's season total to
12, nearly 30 percent of the Capitals' output this campaign.

Vokoun also stopped seven shots in the first period and nine in
the second for the Panthers, who have won six of seven against
the Capitals.

"I don't know what it is about Florida," said Capitals captain
Chris Clark, who returned after missing eight games with an ear
injury. "We always seem to struggle against them. The thing
is, though, we need to win these close games, and we're just not
getting it done."

Kolzig made 23 saves for Washington, which has scored fewer than
two goals six times this season.

"We had chance after chance but couldn't finish it off,"
Nylander said. "We were around the net and getting
opportunities. It wasn't for lack of effort."